


Under the Autumn Canopy

by HonoraryFox



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bonfire Night, Fluff, M/M, exploring a forest, that's it really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:21:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28371567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HonoraryFox/pseuds/HonoraryFox
Summary: Wizards don't celebrate bonfire night. Harry learns that on 5th November when he drags Draco into the forest on the Malfoy grounds.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Kudos: 20





	Under the Autumn Canopy

**Author's Note:**

> A note on Draco and tree climbing- I firmly believe someone placed him in the tree in *that* scene for the Drama and he can’t actually do it alone.
> 
> Originally posted on ff.net for a competition.

Draco Malfoy never thought of himself as a particularly lucky individual. Not for the money he had, the magic, his name, or his position. No, Draco had never thought he was lucky, this was just the way it was. His childhood friends had only reinforced this idea, then he was Sorted into Slytherin, and his formative years at Hogwarts flew by with Draco still in his own little bubble world. Everything was perfect except-

“Harry bloody Potter! Have you seen this, Pansy?” Draco pushed the Daily Prophet in Pansy’s direction. She barely glanced up from the magazine she was flipping through while she was draped across an armchair by the fire. 

“Yes, Draco, darling, I have seen the latest article on our resident hero.” If Draco had been less focused on himself, he might have noted the boredom in Pansy’s voice.

“In love with  _ Granger _ of all people. I mean, really, if the Prophet is going to print rubbish they could at least make it believable rubbish.”

“And who do you think Potter is in love with then?”

“I,” Draco paused, “well I don’t know, but certainly not Granger for goodness sakes.”

“Of course, darling.” Pansy said placatingly.

“You’re not even listening to me.” Dracy pouted.

“That’s because you’re not saying anything new.” Blaise said from the bottom of the stairs to the dormitories.

“How would you know? You weren’t even here.” Draco crossed his arms.

“Blah blah, Potter, blah blah, woe is me.”

“I- That- I do not-”

“Yes, you do.” Draco turned his glare back to Pansy for the betrayal.

“I do not say ‘woe is me’, it’s undignified and I’m a Malfoy, we are the epitome of dignified.”

“It’s heavily implied.” Blaise said.

“Really, darling, if you didn’t say you hated him so often, we might be forgiven for thinking you’re in love with him.”

“Well I do hate him.”

“We know.” Blaise rolled his eyes.

Nine years later and Draco would never admit to anyone, even himself, that he had been lying to himself for years and really, he  _ had _ hated Har—Potter. He had hated Potter. But then he faced the reality of war and what it was going to do to him and the world he loved. Nine years later and he was dating Harry Potter. His friends had never said as such, but he could clearly read their ‘I-told-you-so’ looks and smug glances. True to his Malfoy name, and dignity, he had not reacted to their little glances and remarks and rose above all of it.

Only he would then complain to Harry every night about how frustrating and traitorous all his friends were. Harry’s chest would rumble under Draco’s head as he would agree and tell him how awful it was that his friends were so terrible and Draco would know he was lying but that wasn’t the point.

“You know I’ve never actually explored the grounds here.” Harry said suddenly while they were in the kitchen.

“What do you mean? We’ve been on the grounds loads of times.” Draco placed a mug in front of Harry who cradled it gratefully. Draco wondered for a moment if he should be worried about his boyfriend’s burgeoning caffeine addiction as he did every morning he would see Harry caress the cup like it was liquid luck. It wasn’t really burgeoning at this point, though, it was more a fully fledged reliance on the stuff.

“I know we’ve been on the grounds, but there’s a whole forest we never go into and it might be nice to-”

“You want me to go into a forest? Do you not remember detention with Hagrid? Anything that happened in first year? Big scary creatures, unicorn blood drinking half undead Voldemort?”

“But this isn’t the Forbidden Forest. Plus we were eleven, I’m sure we can stand up to whatever we find there now or just aparate out.” Harry shrugged.

“You think you’re being comforting but I promise you, you’re not.” 

“But this is the forest on Malfoy grounds don’t you think we should know a bit about it?” Harry pressed.

“I suppose.” Draco took the seat next to Harry and started poking at his breakfast. “When?”

“How about tomorrow?”

“But that’s our anniversary. I made plans.” Draco did not pout but it was a close thing.

“What if I made plans?”

“We can’t both have made plans, that’s not how this works.”

“Oh? And how does this work?” Harry challenged.

“Well it… Oh no, I see what you’re doing here, Potter. Fine, have it your way, we’ll go to the damn forest tomorrow.” Harry grinned. 

“No need to be so smug.” Draco grumbled.

“Thank you, love. And thank you for making plans, I appreciate it.” Harry dropped a kiss on Draco’s cheek, who made a show of wiping it away with a glare.

“Better bloody appreciate it. Bloody Potter, always getting his way; it’s not fair.” Draco grumbled down to his breakfast. Harry grinned.

“Now, darling, you don’t really mean that.”

“Of course I do. I’m a Malfoy, I always mean what I say.” Draco straightened his back and stared into Harry’s eyes. There was a challenge there, one that Harry might usually rise to, but not today.

“I love you.”

“I love you too. Now shut up and drink your coffee. And just remember next anniversary is mine.”

“Absolutely.”

~~~

_ 5th November _

Draco’s footsteps crunched across the russet carpet draped across the Malfoy lawns. The recent dry days had left the leaves brittle and susceptible to pressure. The sun was sinking beneath the manor behind him, painting the sky with broad strokes of pink and orange hues, as he walked towards the forest. At the tree line he could see the silhouette of Harry, bundled in coats and scarves, waiting for him.

“Hello, love.” Harry reached out for Draco’s hand and pulled him in close. Their noses pressed together and Draco saw the mischief dancing in Harry’s eyes. “Happy anniversary.”

“Happy anniversary.” Draco pressed a kiss to Harry’s lips and pulled away.

“Let’s go explore.” Harry tugged Draco’s hand and led them into the forest.

“I regret this already.” Draco said.

“It’s gonna be fun.” Harry quickly cast  _ lumos  _ to light their way.

The trees were almost fully bare and ready for the winter to come and the once thick canopy they had created only months before had withered and fallen. The empty branches gave the forest a sense of disquiet and Draco pulled himself close to Harry. He had never been further than a few metres into the Malfoy forest, he had been implicitly banned by his parents, and after his detention he had never felt the need to go into the first by choice. He was quite happy to leave the forest be and only interact with it when or if the need ever arose. Which he truly hoped would be never.

“I wonder how many people have been through this forest before us.” Harry said. They could not see back to the manor anymore and the trees seemed to bow away from them and lead them along a path of its own design, rather than theirs.

“A lot.” Draco shrugged. “These lands have been in the Malfoy family for generations, probably back to Merlin’s time or maybe even earlier.”

“Wow.” Draco could see Harry’s breath fog in front of him as he barely breathed out the word. It was strange to Harry that Draco had such a connection and knowledge about his family history and how it just seemed ingrained in him. It wasn’t that Harry was jealous of that, he knew that with the good came the bad, but he did find himself wondering how it felt to be so connected to something.

The shadows of the forest seemed to both sharpen and soften all at once after the sun had finally set. Draco knew that it was still early but it did nothing to ease the little knot of worry buried in his chest. Harry’s  _ lumos _ cast a harsh, cold light immediately ahead of them and made the trees in their path seem like cardboard cutouts on a stage, while behind and around them the light seemed warmer and more friendly. The trees to Draco’s left and right appeared otherworldly, perhaps ethereal in the odd glow of Harry’s magic.

They walked further into the forest. Harry kept one hand in Draco’s and one hand reaching out to brush against the bark of the trees around him. Surrounded by so much history, Harry could not help but feel rather small. The wood around him was hundreds, if not thousands, of years old. It had stood tall and strong through wars, muggle and magical, government changes, the passage of time. If trees could talk their stories would surely take Harry’s breath away. Harry would say that there was no way to describe the feeling of touching history, of it being right under your hands, of it being so accessible yet so distant at the same time. The hope that sang in his heart and the curiosity that bubbled under his skin was stemmed by the disappointment that settled like a stone in his stomach in the knowledge that he would never have the knowledge.

“Look at this.” Draco led Harry to a small clearing to their right. Moonlight poured through the branches and pooled on the ground. Purple flowers strained to meet the glow from the sky. Their translucent petals stretched up to the sky and opened wide, basking in the silver beams.

“What are they?” Harry asked.

“I don’t know.” Draco knelt by a flower and squinted at it. He had no recollection of anything like this from any book or class.

“We should bring Neville here. He’d love it.” From the look on Harry’s face Draco thought that Harry must be loving it as well. It was filled with a childlike wonder that he did not often get to see on his boyfriend. Hardened by the war and his childhood, Draco found Harry’s capacity for love and forgiveness astounding, but he was not untouched by the horrors he had faced. “He’d be able to tell us what it is. Or imagine if it’s something new, or forgotten, he could make an incredible discovery! He’d love every minute of it.” Harry was practically bouncing with excitement.

“Sure, we’ll bring him as soon as he’s free.” Draco smiled fondly.

“Perfect. Thank you.” 

“Anything for you, love.”

There was more forest on the Malfoy lands than Harry could hope to explore in one night. He tried to picture the trees with all their leaves in summer, the blooms of spring, and the snowy covered grounds of winter. He wondered about the purple flowers and how they would look in each season, if they would bloom year round or if they were an autumn flower.

_ Bang. _

“What was that?” Draco jumped. Their peaceful moment in the clearing has broken and Draco was set to alert.

“I don’t know.” Harry looked around and frowned when he couldn’t see anything, having been so lost in his musings that he had quite forgotten the world around him. 

_ Bang… crackle. _

“Who is on my land?” Draco looked close to what would have been stomping a foot a few years ago but was really just gripping tightly onto his wand.

_ Wheeeeeeeeeee… Bang. Crackle.  _

“It’s bonfire night.” Harry said as if that should explain everything.

“It’s what?”

“Bonfire night.” Harry said again as if it should be the most obvious thing in the world. Draco frowned at him and tapped his wand against his leg impatiently. “You don’t know what bonfire night is?”

_ Bang! _

“Well, I mean, yes of course I do I just… remind me?” Harry chose not to call Draco out on his lie. Harry had never thought much about the lack of bonfire night celebrations at Hogwarts and was now left to assume it was only a muggle celebration. Draco jumped again at the next  _ bang _ while Harry looked up and smiled. He saw a small patch of red light in the sky and made a decision.

“We need a tree.” Harry said.

“What?”

“A tree. To climb. We need a tree to climb.”

“We are literally in a forest, why are you making it sound like we are not currently surrounded by trees?”

“No, we need a specific tree. A climbable one.”

“Aren’t all trees climbable?” Draco asked.

“No, they’re not. Did you not climb trees as a child?”

“No. Father said it was undignified.” Draco shrugged. “And eventually I grew out of wanting to climb trees when I got to start flying on a broomstick.”

“Ok fair point. That’s understandable. Come on, let’s keep going.” Draco nodded and let Harry lead the way.

Harry and Draco left the clearing behind and slowly proceeded uphill. Draco slowly stopped flinching at every bang and tried not to feel concerned when he could smell a fire. Harry had said it was bon _ fire _ night so he made the deduction that the fire was probably a part of that. The more he tossed the word about in his head as they walked, the more he thought he might know something about it. A vague recollection of his mother, maybe his father too, telling him about a muggle celebration where they set off gunpowder to make sparks rather than magic. Draco remembered thinking about what a strange thing to do it seemed at the time, and never questioning it again.

The trees changed as they made their way deeper into the forest. The thin, spindly branches and trunks of trees at the edges were replaced by something thicker and older. The roots sank further into the ground and pushed up higher out of it making for a more dangerous trek. Draco found himself leaning on the bark around him to keep himself upright and was barely able to stay in line with Harry, often falling a metre or two behind. 

Leaves continued to crunch beneath their feet and the few stragglers still on the trees were yellowing ready to fall. It would not be long before the branches were empty for a month or more. Draco tugged his scarf tighter around his neck when a sharp wind rushed through the forest and cut through to his bones.

“Ow!”

“What? What happened?” Draco sped up a little to catch up with Harry on the crest of the hill.

“I’m ok, I just tripped over a tree root.” Harry started pushing himself up and Draco reached out to help him. “On the bright side I think I found a good climbing tree.”

“We could just summon our brooms.”

“No, we’re climbing.”

“Of course we are. Just be careful.”

“I’m always careful.”

Harry climbed the tree with far too much ease in Draco’s opinion. It was not fair that Harry was this good at something so ordinary while Draco was six branches below where Harry had perched and he was still struggling to figure out where to put his foot next.

“Grab the branch near your head and push.” Harry was leaning against the trunk and straddling over two branches to keep his balance. He was sure there was a magical way to do this but he just did not want to use it.

“I regret ever saying I’d explore this forest with you.”

“Hm.” Harry nodded in mock seriousness. “Yes, it has truly been terrible.”

“Shut up and help me.” Draco snapped.

“Here.” Harry reached his hand out when Draco was within reach and pulled him up to sit in front of himself. “Now watch.”

Harry and Draco stayed in their tree and watched the fireworks explode from all around them. They were too far away from the celebrations to hear anything more than the bangs a few seconds after they saw the fireworks but they enjoyed it all the same. Harry patiently explained to Draco everything about the Gunpowder Plot and Guy Fawkes, bonfires and toffee apples—which they immediately conjured. They shared stories and memories of happier days at Hogwarts and their times postwar before they found each other again. They talked of things they had recounted hundreds of times before but would happily hear over and over again just to see the smile on their partner’s face.

Later that night, or very early the next morning, they were tucked up in bed ready to sleep.

“As far as anniversaries go, this was pretty good. I might even say exploring the forest again is a good idea.” Draco said as they walked back to the manor.

“It was, wasn’t it?”

“Don’t get so big-headed, it wasn’t as if you actually planned to climb a tree and watch fireworks.” Draco teased.

“Didn’t I?” Harry innocently quirked an eyebrow and clicked off the light. Draco frowned.

“Wait, did you?” Draco asked but there was no answer. “Harry, did you plan that? Harry? Answer me! Potter!”


End file.
